Thunder Rangers:  Thunder Struck
by KillerTomato
Summary: Dark times have fallen upon the Earth. 75% of the world's population is believed dead. Small outposts spread over the planet are humanities only areas of being. A new team of old faces have to step up and face this battle.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: The Power Rangers do not belong to me, nor does the Sentai series that the Ranger uniforms are based upon.

Note: So this is something that has been pouring through my brain, and well I decided to go with it. The Ranger Powers and Uniforms utilized here are those that were used in the Japanese Sentai, DaiRanger…those were some of my favorite uniforms, despite never being used on Power Rangers (except for the White Ranger used by Tommy).

Thunder Rangers

Dark times have fallen upon the Earth. 75% of the world's population is believed dead. Small outposts spread over the planet are humanities only areas of being. Local armed militias are the only defense against the seemingly endless forces of evil, all pledging allegiance to the Machine Empire…they are barely able to hold the forces at bay.

A newer, stronger Machine Empire has taken control of all the United States, making it their main base of action. With humanities numbers dwindling rapidly, there are very few 'safe' havens for humans to retreat to, and in those places civilization is barely held together against overwhelming odds, to varying degrees of success.

Humanity has always depended on the Power Rangers, but after the Machine Empire, under the control of the re-modeled and stronger Prince, calling himself Lord Gasket, the Rangers seem to have vanished. There are those who seek a new way to access the Morphing Grid in hopes that one day the Power Rangers can return.

(West Coast civilization)

Armed Cogs search the streets and alleys, very important prisoners had managed to somehow escape a Machine Empire prison. Lord Gasket would not be pleased…

"Jason, I know this is your home town, but are you sure you know where you're leading us?" Eric Myers, the Quantum Time Force Ranger, stayed close to the shadows as he followed the original Red Ranger deep into the ruins of one of Angel's Grove's community.

"Trust me," Jason whispered back.

"Don't really have much choice in that matter, do we?" A third voice spoke, the voice of Katie Walker the former Yellow Time Force Ranger.

"His house isn't much further," Jason responded.

The three Rangers, two Time Force and one of the original Rangers, continued along beaten paths by smoldering heaps of metal that were once cars, avoiding the new and improved grunt soldiers used by Lord Gasket.

"In here, let's hope things are still where he left them," Jason flagged the Time Force Rangers to follow him. The house was old, in decent shape all things considered; the windows were boarded, and the garage seemed mostly in tact.

Jason was the first to approach the house, prying open a door that led into the garage. Katie followed first, with Eric not far behind.

"This is it, I can't believe it. Still here," Jason said excitedly, without raising his voice.

"It looks like an old VW Beetle…" Eric said unenthusiastically, "with a lot of unnecessary metal."

"It's more than that…this is the Rad Bug…and if it still works then it may be able to get us somewhere safe," Jason explained.

"If you say so, but if we're going to get somewhere, we better get somewhere fast, the Cogs are moving this way, and it looks like they have a general with them…" Katie whispered as she watched goings on from the door.

Jason opened the door to the Bug and took the front seat. He flipped multiple switches as the car began to hum to life. For something that hadn't been used in years it sounded about the same as it did all those years ago.

"Wow, if it starts that easy I'm surprised its still here," Eric said unimpressed, "so how is this going to get us out of here, exactly?"

"It's the way you do it, the wrong combination and you get nothing," Jason toyed around with several other items on the panel in the car, "load in you two, we gotta go."

Eric still wasn't convinced that they were going to actually get anywhere of any use, but he climbed into the backseat as Jason to the drivers, and Katie jumped into the front.

"Here goes nothing," Jason flipped one last switch.

The Rad Bug came fully to life as it slowly began rise from the ground, and then in an instant the grey VW took to the air, and with rapid speed passed over the earth below.

"I take it this means it's working," Eric admitted, surprised.

"Hopefully it takes us where we need to go," Jason cautioned.

The Rad Bug continued across the sky, moving at a rapidly increasing speed, until finally beginning its descent from the sky.

The VW looked as if it was about to crash into the ground as they got closer to the planet surface.

"I knew it…we're gonna die," Eric surmised right before the small car crashed into the ground.

The crash never came…everyone in the car felt their entire bodies tingle as the car seemed to pass straight through the ground, and come to a complete stop in an underground chamber.

The former Rangers unloaded from the vehicle.

"Almost as bad as time travel," Katie steadied herself on the ground, "…almost."

"Where are we?" Eric looked around the cavern.

Boxes and containers were stacked haphazardly about the room. Subdued lighting put a low glow about the entire room. Slight whirring sounds came from fans that crowned the ceiling.

"This is the basement of what used to be the Power Chamber…" Jason looked around the room, as familiarity washed over him.

"Power Chamber? That's what the Zeo and Turbo Rangers were based out of, wasn't it?" Katie remembered from her studies of the earlier Rangers, "but I thought Divatox destroyed it."

"She did, this is just the storage area," Jason replied.

"So what good is this going to do us? I mean apart from keeping us off the radar of the Machine Empire, and giving us a dry place to sleep? Is there any type of defense or anything?" Eric questioned Jason.

"I really couldn't tell you, but it seemed a little safer than the middle of Angel Grove…" Jason replied, "But if I knew Billy like I think I did, I'm sure he has plenty of safeguards in place."

An alarm began sounding throughout the room, as several wall mounted lights began flashing red, an electronic voice spoke out, "Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Present valid power source or prepare for eviction." A small module arose from the ground; it looked like a scanner of sorts.

"Valid power source?" Katie asked.

Jason reached into his pocket and withdrew a folded cloth, "I knew there was a reason I held on to this." He unfolded the cloth, folded in between the cloth was a round coin. He placed the coin on the scanner and a quick light brushed over the coin.

"Recognition of Tyrannosaur Power Coin, scan complete. Vocal response required," the voice spoke again.

Jason wasn't sure where he was supposed to speak into, so he just spoke aloud, "Jason Lee Scott, Red Ranger."

"Voice recognized. Welcome Jason," the voice chimed as the alarms quit sounding, "voice recognition required from other life-forms."

"Katie Walker, Yellow Time Force Ranger," Katie spoke.

"Eric Myers, Quantum Ranger," Eric did the same.

"Ranger's names and titles not recognized. Step forward for body scan," the electronic voice spoke again, as two 6 foot poles arose from the ground, "step through scanners."

"Its okay guys. Go ahead," Jason told the two Time Force Rangers.

Katie was the first to step through. Her entire body was engulfed by a white light, which changed to a yellow color, before she stepped through completely.

Eric did the same, and a white light scanned his body before turning alternating colors of red and black. He stepped through completely.

The two poles descended back into the ground.

"Access to Morphing Grid recognized," the electronic voice sounded, "welcome other Rangers. Please step through the door." A door materialized on the nearest wall to the former Rangers, as several lights turned from red to green and the doors slid open.

Jason, Eric and Katie all walked through the door. As they entered the new room the door slid shut behind them and lights began to flicker to life. In moments the whole room was lit up. Monitors lined the circular walls of the room, several access points and keyboards also lit up. Evenly spaced circular tubes appeared around the room, each tube glowed a different color: one red, one blue, one yellow, one green and one pink. In the center of the room a round panel was present and on top of it a large globe which began to glow to life.

"Wow, this is…this is just wow," Katie looked around the room, "this looks like something from my century."

"Welcome Power Rangers," the electronic voice spoke again.

"What is this place?" Jason asked, hoping for an answer.

"This is the Command Chamber, I am Beta 1," the voice answered.

"I thought the Power Chamber was destroyed…didn't you say it was?" Eric asked Jason.

"Please turn your attention to the viewing globe in the center of the chamber," Beta 1's voice suggested.

The three powerless Rangers faced the globe in the center of the room, as an image slowly became clearer. Jason heard an old familiar voice he hadn't heard in years.

"Greetings Rangers, either past or present, my name is Billy Cranston. The room you are in is the Command Chamber, the subterranean center of operations. If this room is active that can only mean that the Power Chamber has been destroyed, and if that is the case several other programs have gone into effect for the day they may be needed. My time working with the Zeo Rangers has given me time to work on this secret project. My only hope is that if you have found this Chamber it is not too late to stop whatever evil has reared its face. Within these databanks are what I have been studying and I hope that there is enough power present to aid you in whatever fight you may enthralled in. Years ago when the brute strength of the dinosaurs was not enough to defeat the strength of Lord Zedd my allies and I had to tap into the power of Thunder to continue the fight. Eventually these powers to were replaced by the power of the Ninjetti, these powers to were replaced by the Zeo powers, but there was still power that could be tapped into from the Thunder, and I have found a way to do just that. Focusing the strength of Thunder into a much stronger force I was able to tap into a strength the equivalent of, or perhaps stronger than the powers that the Zeo crystals presented. My intent is that these newer powers, however untested, will not ever need to be used, but I've seen enough to know that we're just not that lucky. After this chamber becomes active Beta 1 is programmed to begin reconstruction of the newer, stronger Thunder Zords. Hopefully there has been enough time for the completion of the Zords. Anyway Rangers, I've taken enough of your time, Beta can answer any further inquiries you may have, and if not there are several files embedded in the Chamber, similar to this one, that can and will be opened as needed. Good luck Rangers, and may the Power protect you." Billy's image faded and the viewing globe went blank.

"So does that mean there is access to Ranger powers here?" Jason asked, hoping Beta would respond.

"Affirmative," Beta replied with one of Billy's favorite phrases.

"Seriously? So does that mean we may have a means to fight off the Machine Empire? If so, how do we hack into it?" Eric said excitedly.

"You have all been confirmed Rangers, and as such the powers of Thunder can be given to you," Beta replied.

"Why does it have to be former Rangers?" Jason asked.

"The basis of the Thunder Powers can only be used to enhance already existing strengths, similar to how the Thunder Zords were originally upgrades to the previously existing Dino Zords," Beta answered.

"That means what exactly?" Katie asked the electronic voice.

"It means that unless you've had previous connection to the Morphing Grid there isn't anything to fuel the Thunder Powers, it's like when we first tapped into them to enhance the Dinosaur Powers. Basically it's like a…a…" Jason snapped his fingers as he tried to think of the word, "a symbiote."

The other two looked at Jason, neither expecting that kind of answer from the first Red Ranger.

"What? Tommy isn't the only one that went to college, I mean I'm no doctor, but I picked up a thing or two," Jason responded.

"Affirmative," Beta replied, "due to the fact that you have been confirmed Rangers by my scans you can access these powers, but I cannot awaken the new Thunder Zords until all five Thunder Power Coins are activated."

"How do we tap into these powers?" Jason asked.

"Observe," Beta replied. In front of each of the colored tubes small pedestals appeared, each bearing a much more streamlined version of the original Ranger Morphers. As each pedestal clicked into place the tubes became more than just colored lights. Each tube had a number above it, and inside each tube a Ranger uniform appeared, "you need only to approach the tube, take the Morpher, insert the Power Coin and the rest will complete itself."

"Let's do it then," Eric said, "I mean if it can help against the Machine Empire, we really don't have a choice do we?"

"He's right; this is probably why we were all drawn here in the first place…" Katie spoke up.

"Approach each tube in order, each Power can only be activated in ascending order," Beta explained.

"Well, looks like we really don't have much choice," Jason admitted, "we have to do something."

"So, step up," Eric told the original Red Ranger.

"What?" Jason asked the former Quantum Ranger.

"The Red Thunder Powers, I mean you were the first, it seems only fair that you take the number 1 spot," Eric answered.

"Thanks, but no," Jason responded.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked.

"I'm not the one to lead in this kind of war. I'm used to one on one fighting and small bands of foot soldiers. This is war, and in war we need someone with the experience to lead an army," Jason looked to Eric, "you're the kind of leader we need in this war."

"He's right, you know how to handle the situation better than either of us, I mean the Silver Guardians weren't just a rag-tag group of people with guns, they were trained as fighters, and they all looked to you for leadership," Katie grabbed Eric's right shoulder, "so get in there Red Ranger."

"I hope I don't let you guys down," Eric said uncertainly.

"You won't," Jason assured the younger man.

Eric stepped towards the red tube, reaching out he lifted the Morpher from the pedestal with one hand, and the Power Coin with the other. He placed the coin in the indention on the Morpher. The Morpher began to glow red, and a light covered Eric's entire body. Inside the tube the Red Ranger uniform vanished and in place of Eric stood the newly garbed Red Thunder Ranger. Eric reached up to the side of the helmet, unlatched it and removed it.

"How do you feel?" Katie asked.

Eric just shook his, "amazing, I feel stronger than ever."

"You're next," Jason motioned Katie.

"Here goes nothing," Katie stepped forward, in front of the second tube, this one pink. She did the exact things that Eric did, and within moments she to was standing, fully garbed as the Pink Thunder Ranger, she removed her helmet as well, "apart from being pink…this is amazing." She clenched the fist of her right hand and smiled.

"My turn," Jason nodded as he walked towards the third tube, this one yellow. Reaching down to lift his Morpher and Coin he combined the two. His body was covered with a yellow light and the uniform vanished from the tube and appeared on Jason's body. Just like the other two he removed his helmet. Looking over his body Jason felt the Power of Thunder coursing through his body, "Morphenomenal."

Beta's voice came over the speakers, "Welcome Thunder Rangers."

"This is all well and good, but we have to find two more if we plan on being completely effective, otherwise the Thunder Zords are gonna stay dormant," Eric said.

"Well, leader, let's see how well you can lead," Katie smiled.

"Well Jason, wanna do the honors?" Eric looked towards the new Yellow Ranger.

"Gladly," Jason grasped the gold buckle of his belt, "okay Rangers. Back to action!"

The Rangers were fully garbed, helmets and all.

"…okay…so how do we get out of here?" Eric looked to the other two Rangers.

TBC

End note: So since we were never shown what special project Billy was working on during Power Rangers Zeo, and as such it gave me the entire basis I needed. Of course I think his original project was actually the Turbo Powers (since those were never explained, they just seemed to be there), but since that connection was never made on the show there is no factual evidence to support it.

End Note 2: If this seems oddly familiar to anyone I'll clarify…long ago I had a story called Ranger Earth: Origins…it became a little too lofty for me to maintain…so I decided to take one part of that story and expand upon it here, focusing on one story instead of like 63…I also moved to this Pen-Name for certain outside reasons…


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Same old song and dance.

Thunder Rangers 2

Kelsey Winslow huddled close to the small fire she had built.

"It's freakin cold out here," she said to know one in particular, "and I'm talking to myself…"

A few years ago she had been a Power Ranger, part of Project Lightspeed; she had been the Yellow Ranger. Then that was over, sure they had stepped back up and into uniform one last time to help out the Time Force team, but that was it. Now here she was, in the middle of a desert, a few miles outside of one of the most Cog-infested cities in America.

"Well I guess I can talk to myself, it's not like anyone is around to hear me. Every part of me is telling me that I'm insane, that I'm just asking to be captured."

She prodded the fire, and threw a couple more pieces of wood on top of it before digging her sleeping bag from her ruck. Unrolling the bag she kicked off her shoes and climbed inside. The night was cold, but then again the last 5 nights had been just as cold and the field showers in the morning…not fun.

"So why am I here? Because, ya know I'm expecting some disembodied voice to answer."

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. It never did.

She wasn't expecting this night to be any different, but then again things always happen that we don't expect.

A loud crash nearby, more like an explosion, was what woke her the next morning. Kelsey awoke immediately, tearing out of the sleeping bag and getting to her feet.

"The Machine Empire!"

She had to escape, and she had to escape quickly. There was no time to pack, she just pulled her boots on quickly and ran in the opposite direction. Kelsey did not plan on getting caught, at least not tonight.

"Hopefully Lightspeed won't charge me for that bag."

Kelsey had no idea where she was going, but then again she had no idea where she was to begin with, she just knew in one direction was Angel Grove and in the other direction was a squadron of Cogs and other assorted members of the Machine Empire. Pretty much, she was out of luck whichever way she went, but she figured if she moved a little more into the mountains she'd at least have more places to hide.

It only took a couple hours to make it to the ridge line she was heading towards. Years as a climber, even prior to Lightspeed, had equipped her for handling herself relatively well, even in unfamiliar terrain. She also knew that there were always places to use for cover in the mountains, and that was where she thought she could at least hide a couple days…food…well that would be a little trickier…as would water…

"Wow, I really didn't think this through…"

Often times though her luck would pull her through tough spots, and she was depending on that one more time.

Though sometimes that luck would fall through, and this turned out to be one of those times.

"Unauthorized human, stand down," a metallic voice said from behind Kelsey.

"Well…this just bites…" Kelsey turned towards the source of the voice.

It was a small number of Cogs, maybe 5, nothing major, and they were the first generation Cogs, not the upgraded Cogs of Lord Gasket's new Army.

"Well I guess this is the part where you arrest me…I give up."

Kelsey smiled coyly.

Two Cogs approached the human as she presented her arms, but as they reached out to grab her she caught their wrists in her own hands and flipped the two Cogs over the ledge she was standing against.

The other three Cogs then declared her a hostile threat and fell upon her quickly.

Kelsey knew how to fight, and she wasn't about to be stopped by three basic Cog models. She managed to eliminate one of the attackers relatively easy, but the other two were slightly trickier. One had managed to grab her from behind and the other repeatedly punched her midsection from the front.

Sure it hurt, but she'd been through worse, and the minute she got the chance she kicked the attacker in the face, knocking it backwards. She broke free of the rear grip bashing the back of her head into the face of the machine foot soldier.

"Well now that the formalities are out of the way," Kelsey smiled as she waved for the two remaining Cogs to attack. Needless to say, they fell for the bait, and leaping into the air Kelsey performed a split kick in the air knocking the machines back.

On the ground a Cog's head lay lifeless on the ground.

"That may be convenient," Kelsey lifted the head turning it to face one of the attackers, she reached under the neck attachment scrambled a few wires causing the face plate to open and blast the Cog.

"Yeah, I've done this before," she cast aside the head; they were usually only good for one blast. The last of the machines would be easy to handle, and Kelsey was quickly finished. Sure she had a couple bruises, but apart from that she was good to go. Though where a few Cogs were, more were to follow, and as soon as Gasket noticed his soldiers were offline he'd send twice as many, this time the newer models would be included.

"So I'm guessing I should probably go somewhere else…" Kelsey descended from the ledge she had been on and decided to make it back towards her camp site…hopefully whatever was there was cleared out by now.

Making her way back she kept to covered paths, just in case. Sure the thermal sensors on some of the Cog models could see right through rock, but she was just hoping that none of those would show up.

She moved back slowly, hoping that it would give whoever was going to raid her belongings time to vanish. Plus she really liked that sleeping bag.

Just as she had suspected, by the time she got back to the site everything had be ransacked. Her ruck had been emptied all over the ground, and oddly enough the fire was still going strong after over four hours. Her sleeping bag was still there though, that's what mattered…well that and the fact she was still alive, a major plus.

Midday was beating down on her and despite being a pro when it came to mountains she still needed water. She saw her canteen lying on the ground and made her way to it. It still had water in it, thankfully, half of it was gone, but she eagerly drank of it.

"You know it would suck if this was poisoned…"

A sound got her attention, the sound of someone or something moving.

"Okay, fine, come and get me…" Kelsey just gave in, "here I am…"

"You're human?" The voice was male.

"Last time I checked…" Kelsey responded, "I mean sure there aren't near as many of us as there used to be, but we're not that rare…yet."

"I was just surprised," the voice replied.

"You know it'd be easier to talk to you if you came out into view," Kelsey said, "I mean I don't plan on attacking."

The voice soon became a body, as an African-American man walked out. He wore tattered green coveralls that were stained with oil, amongst other things.

"Who are you?" Kelsey asked.

"My name is Damon Henderson, I'm from Mirinoi," he introduced himself.

"Mirinoi? That's a bit of a way from here isn't it?" Kelsey asked.

"Well actually I'm from Earth, part of the crew of Terra Venture, we usually make one supply run every couple of years, and when the crew tried this past time…well needless to say we came upon an Earth not necessarily ideal for supplies, but I was the last member of the on ground party and the Wormhole closed up…and that has trapped me here. What's been going on? Why's the Earth like this?" Damon explained, followed by asking his question.

"Two years ago the Machine Empire returned, stronger than we ever could have imagined. They took over everything…and that about sums it all up…" Kelsey summarized everything up to the best of her ability.

"What about the Power Rangers? There always to be a team of them running around?" Damon inquired.

"Any access to the Morphing Grid was essentially blocked off by the Gasket's Venjix Computer Network…" Kelsey continued.

"So you know about the Grid?" Damon raised his eyebrow.

"Spent a year with Project Lightspeed," Kelsey reached out her hand, "Kelsey Winslow, former Lightspeed Yellow Ranger."

"Damon Henderson, former Green Galaxy Ranger," Damon shook her hand.

"Well that's just neat," Kelsey chuckled, "well from one Ranger to another, welcome to our Machine nightmare."

"Thanks, but I'd rather be back on Mirinoi," Damon smiled, "so why exactly are you out here?"

"Camping…" Kelsey answered, "of course I have no idea why I chose camp in the mountains right outside of Machine City...aka Angel Grove…I have yet to figure out why they have such a strong hate for this town…"

"To each there own I guess," Damon replied, "so do you know a way out of here?"

"Well we can go that way and get attacked by Cogs, or we can go that way and get attacked by Cogs, or we can go that way," Kelsey pointed in three different directions, "and probably be attacked by Cogs."

"Win win situation I see," Damon shrugged.

"Pretty much…" Kelsey got up and began to pack her ruck, "well I guess we should head to town…I need supplies…"

"So I guess I've been recruited?" Damon smiled.

"Well either that, or you can sit here in the desert…the choice is pretty much yours," Kelsey shrugged as she rolled up her sleeping bag.

"Wow, you're a beacon of hope aren't you?" Damon laughed.

"Usually, so I guess we should start walking," Kelsey lifted the ruck to her shoulders, strapped it down tight and flagged the former Galaxy Ranger to follow her.

"Would it have killed you to have a truck?" Damon asked as they walked.

"Well I had one; it kind of blew up…" Kelsey answered.

"Blew up?" The former Galaxy Ranger laughed, "Do I even want to know?"

"Machine Empire…apparently running full speed into a ton of mechanized menaces can and will lead to a truck exploding," the former Lightspeed Ranger smiled.

The two continued walking in the direction of Angel Grove, keeping to shadows and moving behind whatever rock formations they passed. Neither really had any idea how far they had to walk, nor did they know how far they had walked, but it was starting to get dark. Kelsey found a location surrounded on all sides with adequate view blocking formations. She built a small fire under the cover of a small outcropping on one of the boulders. She pulled out her sleeping bag, separating it into two parts. She tossed the thicker black portion to Damon and took the thinner green portion and a blanket.

"Nice sleeping bag," Damon said as he laid out his portion.

"I know, right?" Kelsey laughed as she laid her own portion.

"So should someone keep a guard eye out?" Damon asked as he removed his boots.

"Well I for one don't want to stay awake all night, you're more than welcome to though," Kelsey answered.

"Not worried about getting attacked?" Damon climbed into the bag.

"If it happens, it happens," Kelsey climbed into her bag, "see you in the morning."

Both former Rangers fell asleep quickly; it'd been a long day for both of them. The night was not as cold as previous ones, but it was by no means warm. Kelsey had woken up at one point, and as she looked towards the sky she saw a silver streak fly overhead.

"Odd shooting star…" she said to no one in particular. Moments later she fell back asleep.

It could've been an hour, or it could've been ten minutes, Damon wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep when a sound awoke him.

"Kelsey, I think we have company," Damon whispered loudly towards the sleeping woman.

"Great…" Kelsey groggily got up, "well they're not attacking us, that's a plus…"

The two former Rangers both got up and followed the sounds that seemed to be escalating. They were the sounds of a fight going on. The mix of voices was human and machine, but until they were certain of what was happening they chose to watch from a quasi-safe distance.

What they witnessed left them both speechless. Three spandex clad warriors were battling a slew of machines. They were witnessing Power Rangers in battle. The Red Ranger was battling multiple Cogs while wielding two swords. The Pink Ranger, wielding a spear was doing the same. Finally the Yellow Ranger was using a chain whip.

"I thought you said that there were no more Rangers," Damon whispered towards Kelsey.

"Apparently I was wrong," Kelsey responded.

They continued watching the goings on, as the Ranger systematically eliminated each of their attackers.

"This is amazing," the Pink Ranger said as she destroyed another Cog.

"Behind you," the Yellow Ranger shouted towards the Red Ranger.

The Red Ranger nodded in the direction, signaling that he had heard the Yellow Ranger. He dodged an attack before burying both his swords in the mid-section of a Cog and cutting it in half.

A larger figure approached; this one standing 7 feet tall. It was a machine that much was certain, "RANGERS!"

"Figures, it couldn't just be Cogs could it," the Red Ranger waved the other two Rangers over to his side, "looks like we get to break in these powers hardcore tonight."

Kelsey and Damon continued watching, both were fairly confident that these Rangers would be able to handle whatever was thrown their way. Something else caught their attention though, there were several Cogs surrounding the Rangers. Sure they could handle one monster, but the Cogs would definitely put a damper on the battle.

"I think they may need some help," Kelsey whispered to Damon.

"Are you serious?" Damon asked uncertainly.

"We can handle a couple of Cogs, come on mister former Green Ranger, don't get soft on me now," Kelsey leapt from their hiding place and ran head first into the small band of Cogs.

"She's crazy," Damon observed before following right behind her.

The fight between monster and Ranger was escalating as each Ranger assaulted the massive machine. The monster was not expecting that much of an attack, and despite its much larger size it wasn't putting up much of a fight. They knocked him towards the ground and continued their attacks.

The Yellow Ranger was the first to notice the Cogs moving in, "Guys we have company."

"We'll handle these guys, you just focus on the big one," Kelsey shouted as she essentially speared a Cog to the ground, crushing its metallic head on a large rock. She leveled a kick right into the mid-section of another Cog that was attacking her from behind.

Damon grabbed a large branch from the ground that he used as a club against a different Cog.

"I see that," the Yellow Ranger replied, "Thanks."

The three Rangers had weakened the large monster a great deal, and could tell it was getting ready to escape.

"Alright Rangers, let's give him one more blast," the Red Ranger shouted towards his team.

The three Rangers all met at one point. The Red was standing, and the Yellow and Pink took a knee on the ground. All three brought their hands together.

"Let's see if this works," the Red Ranger said to his team.

All three of the Rangers simultaneously brought their hands back along their sides, hands still together, "Thunder Strike!" All three said together as they forced their hands forward. Glowing balls of lightning fired from their hands, engulfing the large machine.

"Curses…" the large machine yelled as he collapsed to the ground before erupting in an explosion.

With the larger machine destroyed the three Thunder Rangers turned to help out the humans who were fending off the Cogs. It didn't take long to destroy the Cogs with the addition of Rangers getting back into the fray.

In the aftermath of the battle the three Rangers turned to face the humans.

"Thanks for the help," the Pink Ranger approached Kelsey, "wait a second, I know you."

"What?" Kelsey was perplexed.

The Pink Ranger unclasped her helmet and removed it; she looked at Kelsey and smiled, "Kelsey, it's been a while."

Kelsey just laughed as she saw the familiar face, "Katie, what are you doing in this time period?"

"I have no idea," she replied.

"Who are the others?" Kelsey questioned.

Damon stood to the side, "you two know each other?"

"I didn't even see you there…crud…umm…" Katie was off put after realizing she just revealed her identity to a regular human.

"It's cool, don't worry. He's a member of the club to," Kelsey brought Damon forward; "this is Damon Henderson, former Green Galaxy Ranger."

"Okay, good deal," Katie turned to the male Rangers, "they're both vets guys, its okay."

The other two Rangers followed suit and removed their helmets.

"So let me introduce everyone, this is Jason," Katie motioned towards the Yellow Ranger, "and this is…well you should remember Eric," she motioned towards the Red Ranger. "This is Kelsey former Lightspeed Ranger and this is apparently Damon former Galaxy Ranger."

"What's goin on here?" Damon asked the Rangers.

Jason and Eric both walked forward, speaking to one another.

"This is convenient," Eric said to Jason, "two former Rangers, ripe for the recruiting."

Jason nodded as the two Rangers reached the others, "Well guys, thanks for the help."

"Anytime," Kelsey replied.

"Actually I was hoping you would say that," Jason responded, "I have a proposition for you two…it's kind of an emergency…"

"What's up?" Kelsey asked.

Eric stepped forward, "how would you two like to be Thunder Rangers?"

"Oh…okay…I wasn't expecting that," Kelsey said flabbergasted, "give me a sec, I need to meet with my partner here." Kelsey flagged Damon to follow her as she stepped off to the side, "so wanna be a Ranger again?"

"Got nothin better to do," Damon answered.

"That was easy enough. Come on, let's head back." The two former Rangers joined the new Thunder Rangers, "so we're in."

"Awesome," Katie said excitedly, "come on let's go. Hold on tight."

Katie wrapped her arm around Kelsey's waist. Likewise Jason did the same for Damon. All the bodies were engulfed in red, yellow and pink lights as they all teleported across the sky.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Thunder Rangers 3

It didn't take long for the 3 Thunder Rangers and their passengers to arrive back in the storage area of the Command Chamber.

"Wow. This is…unimpressive," Kelsey looked around the dull room.

"This is just the lobby," Jason said.

Kelsey and Damon both went through the similar scans that Eric and Katie had gone through, their lights reflecting green and yellow lights respectively.

"You two ready?" Eric looked towards Kelsey and Damon.

"…sure…" Kelsey answered, not really sure what else to say.

A door opened for the Rangers, past and present, to cross through.

"This is more like it," Kelsey looked around the room.

Beta 1's voice sounded over the speaker system, "Welcome Rangers."

Damon looked around for the source of the voice, "Deka?"

"Deka?" Katie looked to the former Green Ranger, "that's Beta, she our resident…voice…"

"Oh, okay then," Damon responded, "well thanks for the greeting then Beta."

"So you gonna fill us in on what this place is, or are we supposed to guess," Kelsey continued to look around the room, then she looked at the tubes along the wall, three were empty, and the other two still had a pedestal in front of them, and on each pedestal was a Morpher and Power Coin, inside the tubes were a Green and Blue Ranger Uniform, the green was marked number 4, and the blue was marked number 5. "Though I don't think I'll have any problem recognizing what those are."

"This is actual Command Chamber," Jason told Kelsey and Damon.

"And that is what exactly?" Damon asked.

"Your new base of operations," Eric spoke, "Guys we can power down," he looked to the two Thunder Rangers.

Both Jason and Katie nodded in confirmation as all three Thunder Rangers said, "Power down."

Katie, Jason and Eric were all standing there now, in their regular human forms.

"You guys look rough," Kelsey said as she looked at the Rangers in front of her.

"Well escaping from a Machine Empire prison, then spending several days trying to keep from getting caught can do that to you," Jason replied.

The three empty tubes glowed as the Ranger suits re-appeared in them.

"Awesome," Damon said as he looked at the uniforms.

"So what's next? You asked us if we wanted to join, so how do we get our reserved parking places?" Kelsey asked.

"Pick up the Morphers, insert the Coins," Eric explained.

"Then we get our very own spandex body suits I take it?" Kelsey smiled.

"Pretty much," Katie answered.

Damon approached the green suit, looking it up and down, "that easy huh?"

"That easy," Jason told him.

Damon reached down, picked up the Morpher that lay on the pedestal. He placed the Coin in the depression of the Morpher, and a green light covered his entire body, the Green Thunder Ranger looked around the room, "Mean Green."

"Well then I guess I'm all that's left," Kelsey walked towards the final tube and placed the Coin in the Morpher. Within minutes she was standing there, the Blue Thunder Ranger, "now where are the Zords?"

Before anyone could respond a loud alarm began sounding throughout the room.

"That's never a good sound," Jason said as he turned towards the viewing globe that was centered in the room.

An image flickered to life on the screen.

"What is it?" Katie came up beside Jason.

"No idea," Jason answered, "but it looks like a space ship entering Earth's atmosphere. That usually means one of two things, we're either under attack, or someone is in trouble."

"And I strongly doubt that someone is planning to attack the Machine Empire in its present state," Eric joined the other two.

They continued watching as the ship continued falling. Finally the ship struck Earth's surface, and as luck would have it the ship was in the middle of a very large lake. Apparently whoever was inside the ship had managed to at least pilot the ship into a quasi-safe landing.

"We should probably go check that out," Eric turned to Katie and Jason, "ready guys?"

"Ready," Jason and Katie replied.

"It's Morphin Time," Eric thrust out his Morpher, "Red Thunder!"

"Pink Thunder!" Katie followed suit.

"Yellow Thunder!" Jason was the last.

The three Thunder Rangers turned towards the two newest members.

"Ready for some action?" the Red Thunder Ranger asked.

"You know it," Damon replied.

All the Rangers grasped their belt buckles as Beta programmed the teleportation coordinates. Within seconds five different colored lights engulfed the Rangers and the Command Chamber was empty.

The Rangers soon found themselves near the crash site. Waves were still washing over the levee as a remnant of the crash.

"Rangers scan the shore, look for anyone," Eric ordered.

All five Rangers spread apart and began searching.

The ship was floating on the surface of the lake, and as best Eric could tell there was no one on board. He dived into the water to swim out to the small ship, just to make sure.

Upon reaching it he realized that this wasn't a full ship, in fact it looked more like an escape pod than anything. He looked inside the pod and turned his head away from what he saw. Three humanoids were strapped into their seats, none were breathing, it was evident that they weren't alive. Despite their humanoid appearance they weren't human, the top portion of their head were larger in comparison, and covered in ridges they contrasted with the much more human appearance of the lower half. Part of Eric knew that he should recognize their species…but at the time it escaped him.

Realizing there was no way he could help the aliens, Eric did the only thing he knew to do. He contacted Katie and Jason and asked them to swim out to the pod and help him with the bodies.

Jason and Katie both left their searches and moved towards the water, diving in and swimming out to the pod.

When they arrived they were shocked at what they saw.

"Aquitians," Jason recognized the aliens.

"Oh my God, this is terrible," Katie choked, "well I guess we should take them ashore."

Each Ranger struggled to remove the bodies from their seat belts, and awkwardly swam back to shore with the Aquitians.

Kelsey and Damon met the three Thunder Rangers at the shore, and went to help with bodies.

"This is terrible," Kelsey shook her head.

Soon all three bodies were laid down side by side…lifeless and unmoving, or so it seemed.

One of the bodies, a male Aquitian moved slightly. The water must've done something to his body.

"The others…where are the others?" The male spoke softly.

Running beside the body Eric kneeled down, "They're here."

"No…not them…Delphine and Bi…" he choked out the last few words, but couldn't complete them. The Aquitian's body collapsed in silence…this time he was gone.

"So what do we do with them?" Damon asked as he moved towards Eric.

"Bury them…here…beside the water," Eric said, his voice never wavering, "then we get back to the Command Chamber."

The Rangers all agreed. Having no shovels they dug shallowly into the ground, laying the Aquitian bodies side by side. Afterwards they proceeded to cover the bodies with large rocks from a nearby rock bed.

"Come on, let's get back," Eric told the other Rangers as all five Rangers prepared for the teleportation.

When they arrived back to the Command Chamber, Eric turned towards each Ranger.

" I know that wasn't fun, but it probably won't be the last time. That's one of the problems of war," Eric addressed each Ranger.

"So what did he say before he died?" Jason asked the Red Ranger.

"He asked about the others, but not the others with him." Eric replied, "he said something about Delphine and someone else, but he couldn't finish what he was saying."

"Delphine! What about her?" Jason's voice changed at that name.

"You know her?" Kelsey questioned the Yellow Thunder Ranger.

"Yeah, she was one of the Alien Aquitar Rangers," Jason answered, "but why would she be here on Earth?"

"We've got to figure that out," Eric said, "for now though we need to return to Angel Grove. Try and get cleaned up, and find some food. It's been a long night and an even earlier morning, we probably should get some sleep as well."

"Are you sure?" Katie asked.

"Without some rest, we'll all be worthless," Jason stepped in.

The other Rangers all agreed, and despite none of them wanting to rest, they all knew they would have to.

"Beta, teleport us back to Billy's house," Eric spoke.

"Of course, good luck Rangers," Beta's voice sounded, "teleporting now."

With that the Thunder Rangers were engulfed by the colored lights again.

The Rangers arrived in the garage that the Rad Bug had been in, less than 48 hours earlier.

"Power down," all five Rangers said together as the all re-appeared in their normal clothing.

"So where are we exactly?" Damon looked about the garage.

"An old friend's house," Jason replied, "we should be able to stay here without too much trouble from Venjix."

"I take it no one lives here then," Kelsey said as she looked over the layers of dust that lined everything in the garage.

"Very few people are brave enough to stay in Angel Grove these days, and those that do rarely ever leave their homes." Jason said, "With any luck this place still has power, and can at least give us a place to sleep."

"Only one way to find out," Eric said, "look around for a circuit box."

The Rangers all did just that. It didn't take long to spot it. It was on the back wall, behind an old bike. Katie opened the front panel and began flip all the switches to an on position, a slight hum moved through the air as a very dim light came on.

"We have life," Kelsey said as she watched the light flickering on, "I guess that's one of the benefits of living in a world ruled by machines, there probably won't be a lack of electricity."

"Always the optimist aren't you?" Damon walked up beside Kelsey.

"I do what I can," Kelsey replied.

"So I guess we should head inside," Eric suggested, "maybe we can get somewhat cleaned up."

The other Rangers agreed as Jason led the way into the house. The first room they entered was the kitchen. All the appliances were still there, and in tact, of course there was no semblance of food in the house, it had all been raided years ago.

"This is pleasant," Katie cringed at the cobwebs that lined the open door of the refrigerator.

"Well 2 years is a long time," Damon pointed out.

"Oh ye stater of the obvious," Kelsey joked.

"The bedrooms and bathrooms should be back this way," Jason walked deeper into the house, "right back here." Jason disappeared into one of the rooms.

Katie and Damon followed Jason further back. Eric and Kelsey took a different route though. They passed through to the living room/den area.

Kelsey stopped by the sofa, slapped the cushions as mushroom clouds of dust billowed out.

"Amazing that this much can build up over only two years…methinks there is something else afoot here," Kelsey said.

"The Dust Empire must be working in cahoots with the Machine Empire, that's the only explanation," Eric said jokingly.

"Ah well…it's not like I'll get any dirtier." Kelsey plopped down on the sofa, as she propped her feet on the arm of the couch. Reaching down beside the couch she found the television remote, "I wonder…"

Kelsey pressed the power button on the remote, as the television screen flickered to life. Of course all that was on the screen was static, but it did work.

"I don't think they have cable in the Machine Empire," Eric settled onto a recliner that was still in a reclined position.

"The nerve," Kelsey pressed another button. This time the DVD player came to life, a blue screen first appearing as a distorted image became clearer. The FBI warning passed by, and then the studio logo appeared, followed by the menu screen, "Check this out." Kelsey called Eric's attention to the screen, "the DVD player works."

"This movie bites," Eric said, "but since we're here…may as well."

From the back part of the house they heard Jason's voice, "Water works."

"Yay, showers," Kelsey said as she watched the images on the screen, "now if I just had clean clothes to change into."

"I'm sure there's something here you can change into after you shower," Eric replied as his eyes began to close, "wake me when its my turn."

In the back of the house Jason was trying to clean out the tub to the best of his ability, as he let the water run, hoping to clear out the old water.

Katie was searching for quasi-clean towels, and maybe something that would pass as clean-ish clothes, eventually finding several large plastic boxes. In the boxes were a lot of older clothes, sure they were tacky, early 90's clothes, and sure they were all for men, but they were clean enough to merit changing into. Another box had blankets and sheets stored away, and despite smelling like they'd been in storage for years (since they had been) they were clean enough to sleep under. Finally the last box had the towels, and she sighed with relief.

Damon had split off into another room, where he had found the washing machine and dryer. The dryer was still worked but the washer seemed to not be working right, so he immediately decided to try and see if he could fix it. Luckily Billy's family had a decent tool set in the laundry room, and within 20 minutes he was fairly confident he would have it up and running. Seriously, a washing machine couldn't be any more complicated than an interstellar space craft.

"Any luck Katie?" Jason stuck his head from the bathroom door.

"Oh yeah, we have towels…and a lot of blue clothing…" Katie replied.

"Go figure," Jason laughed, "well if you bring some towels I made room for them, it's clean enough for showering at least."

"Awesome," Katie grabbed a hand full of towels and made her way towards the newest Yellow Ranger.

Jason on the other hand headed towards Billy's old room, where he dug through some of Billy's old clothes that he figured were in storage, ultimately fishing out something for himself to change into, it wasn't fresh, but it was better than he was wearing.

"Bingo!" Damon shouted from the laundry room, "washing machine works."

"Good news," Kelsey shouted from the den, "but hold it down, I'm trying to watch this really lousy movie."

After leaving the bathroom Katie made her way back to the living room where she asked Kelsey and Eric if they would mind finding places for everyone to sleep. Both the Rangers got up from their seated positions and began dusting off beds and rolling out blankets. Within an hour the house was starting to look livable, and each of the Rangers made their way through the shower. The guys each found something relatively easy, the girls took a little longer, but ultimately they found something that would pass as wearable.

After washing all their clothing and throwing them in the dryer everyone decided to get some sleep.

"Yeah, we're probably going to need to go shopping in the next few days," Kelsey said as she and Katie went to bed, neither having any problem sharing a bed.

"Yeah, because the stores are all open…" Katie said sarcastically.

"Of course I mean raiding abandoned houses, I'm pretty sure some females had to once live here, and they probably won't mind us raiding their closets," Kelsey replied.

Jason settled into Billy's old room, with an agreement that the guys would rotate beds each night, though Eric said he was more than content enough to sleep on the recliner.

In the living room Damon and Eric were talking as they slowly drifted to sleep.

"Eventually we'll be set," Damon said, "but haven't you wondered why the Machine Empire aren't bothering us?"

"Probably because as far as they know the city is abandoned, and the fact that we keep the lights off all night, and keep the windows sealed off at all times, they probably don't think to check things out. I mean eventually I'm sure they'll stop by for a visit, but we should have a few days without concern."

Jason lay in Billy's bed as he looked at the ceiling, pondering why Delphine was back on Earth, and wondering why the Aquitians had came to Earth, they had to have known the state of the planet. Maybe Billy had suggested they look into the goings-on on the planet…maybe they were going to try and send help, even though the last time the Alien Rangers of Aquitar were on Earth, they struggled to keep themselves properly hydrated, and only then because of the help Zordon, Alpha and Billy. Eventually though he managed to fall asleep, a well-deserved, and much needed sleep…

The morning came without incident, and all the Rangers slept much later than they had intended. After everyone was awake they got their clothes from the dryer, they all decided that their first destination should be the Command Chamber, maybe Beta would be able to help them find the other Aquitians, provided they were still alive.

They arrived in the Command Chamber moments later.

"Beta, can we use the Viewing Globe to do a scan?" Eric asked the disembodied voice.

"Affirmative," Beta replied.

"Well can you scan for any signs of Aquitian life signals?" Jason asked.

"Affirmative, beginning scanning sequence now…" Beta's voice responded.

The Viewing Globe came to life as multiple images flashed over the screen.

"Negative signs of Aquitian energy," Beta replied.

"It's not likely she would've survived," Jason said, though the disappointment was obvious, "I mean just look at the others."

Unbeknownst to Rangers in the room a door had come open behind them as they all watched the Viewing Globe intently.

"Either that or she's somewhere that the scanner isn't calibrated to," a new voice appeared behind the 5 Thunder Rangers.

All of them immediately turned to see what the source of the voice was. The person that was standing there, 4 of the 5 Rangers didn't recognize, but one of the Rangers did.

Jason's jaw dropped when he saw the person standing there. A young man, his age, wearing dark jeans and a black, long-sleeved t-shirt, "I didn't expect to see you here…"

"The same can be said of you," the man replied.

"Hello, can we get some introduction here?" Kelsey voiced what all the others were thinking.

"Sorry guys," Jason turned to his fellow Thunder Rangers, "everyone I'd like to introduce you to Billy Cranston."

The young man smiled, "it's a pleasure to meet you, even though these are not the best circumstances…"

TBC (at some point)


End file.
